


Something's Gotta Give

by Maiisbuns



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Drama & Romance, Hand Jobs, M/M, Non-Graphic Smut, Past Relationship(s), Puppy Zack Fair, Turk!Cloud, cloud is still a twunk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:15:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25579444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maiisbuns/pseuds/Maiisbuns
Summary: Zack finally sees Cloud after he failed the SOLDIER exam a few years ago, when he finds him in a bar in downtown Midgar a few things have changed.
Relationships: Zack Fair/Cloud Strife
Comments: 4
Kudos: 72





	Something's Gotta Give

**Author's Note:**

> Wanted to write some Turk!Cloud, and then it turned into just me wanting Zack being hot for Cloud in a suit. So here we are.

It’s a busy night at the Dual Horn bar. Zack hangs back, watching a small group of suits take a row of stools at the counter. Whatever mission the Turks had been must’ve been a success with the way Reno slings around shots sliding them to his comrades with ease. The one on the end is a little more hesitant, trying to pass off his glass to Rude, but he’s interrupted when Reno slaps a hand to his back.

“C’mon, Cloudy-boy! Show me what you’re made of.” Reno sneers.

“Drinking isn’t my thing.” 

“Is now, man. You gotta if you wanna get by.” Reno clinks his glass against the other, holding the shot just in front of the other man’s lip. “Same time?”

“Fine, whatever.”

On the count of three they both toss it back with a cough, shaking it off with eyes shut tight. 

Zack scoffs, walking over to a table as soon as he finds Angeal. “You see him?”

“Strife?” Angeal asks, looking over at the bar, “Heard they took a liking to him, didn’t think he’d actually join though.”

“Why’s that?”

“You know why.” Angeal shakes his head, “Don’t play dumb.”

Zack takes a swig of Angeal’s drink to take the edge off. 

Across the room Reno takes over the jukebox and a jazzy tune fills the bar. It’s just enough to get a few couples on their feet. Zack keeps watching Cloud and the way his left foot taps against the base of the barstool. Head low, leaned forward, tilted toward Reno, he doesn’t think he’s noticed him. 

He’s got his blazer draped over his shoulders, the sleeves dangling down to his waist. A gloved finger taps the edge of the counter.

It’s similar to the way he looked the last few times he’d seen him. Cloud was hunched over a table in the library, nose deep in _ David Versus Bahamut: A Comprehensive History Of Guerrilla Warfare.  _ Studying for the SOLDIER exam was all he knew how to do, day in and day out, from the mess hall to the barracks. Something that Zack always made into a challenge to get his mind off of it.

Lucky for Zack it had been easy work, a few shy smiles, poorly thought of jokes and some conversation, and the book was effortlessly set aside and some of the stress relieved. 

When Zack gets up Angeal groans, watching Zack glide across the venue floor as a hush falls in the space between them. The rest of the Turks give him a passing glance but then carry on as normal. The closer he gets the more the music and the people behind him become muffled.

“Got some new friends I see.” Zack says, leaning against the counter.

Cloud keeps his eyes trained on a bottle of Gongagan rum. 

“I’m happy for you.” 

Cloud takes a sip from his glass, “Thanks, I guess.”

“Hey, could we—“

“I gotta go.” Cloud interrupts him, swiveling around to get up from his seat.

The dance floor swells with more bodies, making it difficult for Zack to push against the ebb and flow of them as he tries to keep up. Through the crowd he can just barely see the empty sleeves of Cloud’s jacket billowing more violently as the door is opened that lets out onto the street. He can feel Angeal zero in on him.

Quickly, Zack keeps weaving through, apologizing as he bumps shoulders with satin dresses and expensive suits. When the cold night air of Midgar meets him he breathes in deep, ignoring the chill that bites him when he jogs to close the distance. 

When he does, he reaches out to grab Cloud by the wrist. But he senses him, spinning around, narrowly missing as he throws an elbow that should’ve connected with his chest. Zack blocks it quickly, then is surprised when he’s too late to interrupt the fist that follows. 

“Shit!” Zack hisses, rubbing the curve of his jaw. 

Cloud sighs, “Let me see.” 

They step off into the mouth of an alley where Cloud jerks his head, motioning for Zack to lean against a nearby wall.

“Why’d you follow me anyway?”

“I just wanted to talk.” 

He winces as Cloud presses a handkerchief gently against the sting of the cut left on his jaw. “Fine. Talk.”

“It’s good to see you.” Zack’s hands find the familiar curve of Cloud’s waist out of habit, adding pressure in his fingers when Cloud doesn’t shy away from him. There’s a softness to his eyes still, making Zack relax as he studies what else is left in them. “How—are you?”

“Does it matter?”

“‘Course it does.” Zack tilts his head.

“I’m fine.” Cloud says, “Just tired.”

“Turk stuff, right. How uh—how’d you get into that?”

Cloud sighs again, trying to look everywhere that isn’t at him, “Just did.”

“People like you don’t just join the Turks.” 

“People like me, or  _ me _ ?” Cloud scoffs, finally looking up at him.

Zack smiles, ”Fine, people like you.”

Some parts of the Cloud he knows remain, in the way he disarms him so quickly like this. It’s the coldness that he isn’t used to, the parts that weren’t reserved for him, the way he looks through everything else like a ghost, passive and empty.

He wants so badly for it to be like back then, still young and stupid fooling around when they knew they shouldn’t. When Zack was nineteen, they hid in the stairwell, pressed into each other against the railing with one of Cloud’s legs settled into the space between his. His fingers were curled around the back of his neck, coaxing him forward until they crashed into each other, messy and desperate, all clumsy lips and teeth. 

Things had changed only months later. After the exams came and went Cloud grew more discouraged and so did the distance between them. He would work his way into missions that were longer, going south or east— anywhere that would bring him to a place that wasn’t where they both were. 

He’s only vaguely familiar with Turk training. He knows they go through rigorous testing to ensure emotional stability, and even Reno has a knack for distancing himself from his own emotions and humanity. Somehow, Zack can’t imagine seeing Cloud doing the same.

Even now, as Zack keeps his hand lightly on his waist, Cloud is struggling to look for an exit. “Angeal is probably looking for you.” 

“Let him.” Zack says quietly, “It’s your turn to talk.”

The street is quiet, no footsteps on the sidewalk or even the hum of a distant car in the street. There’s the muffled sound of a woman laughing in the distance but even that recedes, falling away until Zack can feel only the presence of the two of them. 

Cloud tilts his head back a bit to look at the cut on his jaw, his face lighting up more from the street lamp above them. 

“Back then, I wanted to—I wanted to  _ be _ something.” Cloud finally says, “Something more than I was. I never wanted anything else as much as I wanted to make SOLDIER.”

His shoulders hunch forward, and his chin comes down so that when he hangs his head the tips of his hair brushes against Zack’s neck. In an instant he’s become that small country boy again. “And then I met you. After that I felt like I had to prove it, that I wasn’t just someone you needed to protect. But I couldn’t pass, and then I—“

“You were embarrassed.” Zack sighs, leaning back into the wall. 

Cloud bites his lip.

“You know it wouldn’t have mattered. We’re more than that.”

“Were.” Cloud corrects. 

“You could’ve just talked to me.”

“And said what?” Cloud asks.

“Just been honest.” Zack shrugs.

“It’s too late for that.”

Cloud takes a step back, but Zack’s hands tighten, grabbing at the black shirt under his jacket. “What are you so afraid of?” He says quietly into his ear, pulling him close.

He can feel Cloud’s breath trembling against his neck, warm and nervous, it springs goosebumps against his skin. Zack hums playfully as he lets his hand travel up until it’s nestled behind the nape of his neck.

“That isn’t allowed.” Cloud breathes, but lets his own fingers run along the curve of Zack’s jaw.

“Was it ever?”

With hesitation Cloud closes the distance between them, inhaling sharply as he hovers over Zack’s lips before gently pressing forward. The groan Zack releases is gratifying as he lets Cloud take advantage. As he leans in, he coaxes him to open his mouth with the tip of his tongue, letting out a breathy exhale as the turk’s gloved hands travel up his shirt, brushing his fingertips along his rib cage.

Zack nips at his lip and neck, overwhelmed by the scent of Cloud’s unfamiliar cologne, by his hands on his chest, and the way his own begin unbuttoning his shirt. 

Underneath is a pale skin and lean muscle, stark contrast to the slight tone he had all those years ago. After so long he learns there's confidence in him now, the way he guides Zack further into the alley, firm hand to his chest.

Cloud backs them both into an enclave between two Shinra shipment containers. The blue green light of Midgar illuminates the ivory tone of his skin, casting shadows on the curve of his collarbone and where his neck dips near his jaw, rising and falling with his pulse. Without a second thought Zack presses a kiss to it, grinning as Cloud lets out a gasp working his hands into his hair. 

It is nothing like the way he remembers. His hands hurriedly finish undoing the buttons of Cloud’s shirt, all the while he peppers kisses against the side of his neck, hunching down slightly to drag his lips against his collarbones. He lets out a grunt when Cloud takes advantage of the space between them, nudging Zack’s legs apart with his knees, hand quickly flying to pull at his belt buckles.

Zack gasps when Cloud reaches down the waist of his pants, biting down on his lip when he strokes the length of him. He holds him there tightly, free hand around his shoulders holding a glove Zack that isn’t sure he remembers seeing him take off. When he tries to pull away he’s yanked back down to muffle the soft moans that he breathes into his hair.

He goes slowly, changing the amount of pressure whenever Zack rolls his hips, he can feel him sigh playfully as he realizes his efforts to draw things out are successful. 

“You didn’t—you didn’t answer me.” Zack says through a shudder.

Cloud pulls away, looking up at him as he continues thrusting into the loose grip of his encircled fingers. “Do I need to?”

Before Zack can respond Cloud, l reels him back in, working his hand faster, until Zack bucks his hips to meet him. He lets out a strangled gasp as he’s pulled over the edge, breathing heavily as Cloud strokes the last remnants of hardness from him. 

“No, I guess not.” 

He lets him hold up the weight of them both, a forearm against the wall keeps him propped up, closing his eyes as Cloud runs his hands along his back.

“This doesn’t change anything.” Cloud murmurs.

“I’m willing to bet on that.” Zack breathes.

Cloud fixes his own clothing, neatly buttoning his shirt and smoothing out the blazer that’s only barely stayed on his shoulders. 

There’s a stillness and quiet where he looks down at his shoes, hands down by his sides as though he’s ashamed. Zack takes a half step forward, but stops when he doesn’t turn to face him.

“Is it me you’re afraid of?” 

When he looks over his shoulder Zack can see the confidence steadily slipping away from him. But quickly he replaces it with the same coldness from before.

“Yeah, maybe.” Cloud says and walks back out into the street. 

  
  



End file.
